winter flower ; zhong chenle

twenty-four

it was the night before areum's birthday and she was hanging out with chenle, jisung, and sungchan at jisung's house. her and chenle have been on a few dates but nothing was official yet.

and here the four were. fighting per usual. this time it was sungchan and chenle, and jisung and areum.

"areum! stop touching my hair! you're ruining it!"

"oh please. it looked terrible before i did it. stop being a big baby!" she said, hitting jisung's arm.

"chenle stop!"

"stop being tall!"

"i can't help it!"

"chop off your long ass legs!"

"use stilts if you want to be tall!"

"you take that back!"

"no!" sungchan said as chenle tried to bite him. jisung and areum were play fighting, jisung was winning but areum wasn't having it.

"areum!" jisung yelled as areum pinned his arms down and she smirked, "what's wrong jisungie?" she asked innocently. next thing you know, she was dragged off of jisung by sungchan, "tell him to stop trying to bite me!"

chenle pulled areum away from sungchan and set her on the couch nicely like she was his most prized possession before tackling sungchan and jisung recorded the whole thing. areum stood up and pulled the two apart, jumping on chenle's back.

"lele, let's go get some ice cream."

"areum it's freezing outside. why would you want ice cream?"

"ice cream is a year round comfort food for me." she said, laying her head in the crook of his neck. though he couldn't see her, he knew she closed her eyes so he sighed, "fine." he said as he grabbed her shoes and his sweatshirt, "we'll be back."

"no we won't." areum said and chenle agreed, "no we won't."

chenle dropped her in front of the door so she could put her shoes on and she smiled up at him, "let's go!" she squealed trying to run out but chenle pulled her back. "you need a jacket."

"i left my jacket at home."

chenle pulled his sweatshirt over her head and she gasped, "zhong chenle, are you trying to suffocate me." "yes." chenle deadpanned, fixing the sweatshirt and pulling it down. she punched him in the arm and took his keys, "i'm driving."

"oh god."

he followed areum out to his car, getting in the passengers seat and watching as areum started up the car. "ya, put your seatbelt on."

"no."

chenle rolled his eyes and did it for her. he played music for them and areum drove them to a park about ten minutes away from their neighborhood. "i thought you wanted ice cream?" chenle asked once they parked.

"i actually just wanted to watch the stars with you. i didn't think you'd say yes if i told you that, though." she mumbled, playing with her fingers nervously and chenle smiled, placing his hand over hers.

"i would've said yes, dummy." he intertwined their fingers and leaned over to kiss her cheek. she smiled up at him, "then what are we waiting for?"

"you have to stop holding my hand so i can get out."

"but i don't want to."

"how are we going to get out then, areum?"

she stopped holding his hand as she looked out the window, not wanting to accept her defeat. chenle took his keys from out the ignition and put them in his pocket as he got out. he waited for areum to get out, too, and hugged her, "i'll do anything with you. you just have to have ask." he mumbled, kissing her forehead.

she nodded and smiled up at him, "promise?"
"i promise." he once again grabbed her hand and pulled them in the direction of the park. they find an empty spot in the middle of a low cut field. they lay down side by side, chenle's arm under areum's head, and they look at the stars.

areum had been thinking about their relationship, not knowing their label. we're more than friends, but we're not officially dating. should i ask him what we are? i'll never know if i don't ask right? she had made up her mind, and decided to ask.

"chenle?" she whispered, looking at him and he turned his head, "hm?"

"what are we?"

one chapter left!!